Welcome to a new feature here at 1001 Books blog, the Opening Lines.
It is exactly as it sounds, the opening lines from a 1001 Book, only we won’t be telling you which novel, novella or short story it comes from.
If you think you know*, just leave a comment and we’ll let you know if you are right.
Here is our very first Opening Line,
On a spring afternoon in 19-, the year in which for months on end so grave a threat seemed to hang over the peace of Europe, Gustav Aschenbach, or von Aschenbach as he had been officially known since his fiftieth birthday, had set out from his apartment on the Prinzregentenstrasse in Munich to take a walk of some length by himself.
* no Googling if you’re planning to leave a guess. 😉
1001 Books to Read Before You Die 
(I’ve got no idea, but love the concept!)
Thanks. I hope everyone else likes it too.
I’ll come back a little later in the week and leave a comment saying which book, if no one guesses right in the meantime. After all, not everyone is awake yet, nor visits every day. 😀
It sounds so familiar – but not – maddening!
And the answer is: Death in Venice by Thomas Mann.